Great Plains Roadtrip Part 1: The North Road

Introduction

Part of my quest to visit all 50 states, this trip creates a loop around and through the Great Plains.

• Part 1: The North Road
• Part 2: The Western Expanse
• Part 3: Route 66

In the first chapter, we start off in Chicago and head northwest through Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, ending at Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Along the way, we’ll explore cities, see endless natural beauty and visit quirky roadside attractions.

Strategy

During the actual trip, I followed the tips and tricks described in these guides.

• How to Buy Gas
• Guide to the Great American Roadtrip

In the year leading up to the trip, I positioned for a road trip by:

• Earning a 90k signup bonus from a Chase Ink card.
• Earning Hyatt Globalist status from a 20 night status match challenge.

The Journey

Chicago

The trip kicked off with two nights in Chicago for an old friend’s wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at Skyline Loft at Bridgeport Art Center with a day after brunch downtown.

I stayed downtown at the Chicago Hyatt Regency on Wacker, where, as a Hyatt Globalist, I enjoyed free lounge access, free restaurant style breakfast and complementary $90/night valet parking.

Mall of America

From Chicago, I drove west to Minneapolis, staying two nights in the Bloomington Hyatt Regency within walking distance of the Mall of America.

The Mall is a magical place. Inside, you can find an amusement park, multiple food courts and an aquarium. I think there might even be some shops. It’s really more than a mall, something of a cultural phenomenon. Plus it’s a big open space to go during the long cold Minnesota winters.

Minnehaha Falls

The next day I visited Minnehaha Falls, a 170 acre city park about 10 minutes drive from the Mall of America. It follows the Minnehaha creek as it winds its way into the Mississippi river, and is full of lush fields, winding paths and picnic areas.

I was pleasantly surprised to see it well-used by the public. Families were out for picnics with lots of children playing in the falls which cascade 53 feet to a nice wading pool.

World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Minnesota

Moving on from Minneapolis, my plan was to drive to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, passing through “Big Monument Country” country along the way. The first stop was an hour to the west at the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine”, a title that has become fiercely competitive in the modern era.

This nearly 9 ton twine ball in Darwin was originally wound by Francis Johnson, son of US Senator Magnus Johnson. It was featured prominently in Weird Al’s Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota. In return, the town christened a nearby road “Weird Alley.”

Right outside of Darwin sits, Darwin Dassel park. In summer, the fields are full of flowers, and you can climb to the top of a nearby hill for good views of the surrounded countryside.

Paul Bunyan and His Land

Twining our way north through Minnesota, I drove to the town of Brainerd. In the first picture, you can see Babe the Blue Ox found just outside of town. Admission was $26 and I didn’t go in, but I can see it being a worthwhile stop for families with small children. I was sad I didn’t get to see the 26-foot tall animatronic statue of Paul. The second picture shows a sitting Paul Bunyan at the Brainerd vistor’s center.

Lake Bemidji

To prepare for my visit to the headwaters, I stopped for the night in Bemidji, which bills itself as the “First City on the Mississippi”. This is an idyllic lake country resort town with its very own Paul Bunyan statuary. Here I stayed in the Hampton Inn which sits right alongside Lake Bemidji. They have a pier and a beach for swimming.

The lake was beautiful, but walking along the shore, I saw a startling number of very large and active leeches patrolling the shallows. Probably these were harmless, and they seemed to be popular with fishermen for bait, but I didn’t see anyone swimming in the waters.

Lake Itasca: Headwaters of the Mississippi

The next day I made my way to Lake Itasca and the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It’s a beautiful lake with beaches, camps and nice trails. Families were playing in and around the crystal clear waters which, as far as I could tell, did not have the same leech issues as Lake Bemidji. Everyone enjoyed hopping across stones, from one side of the river to the other.

The Mississippi was the first river my old dog Ellie ever swam in, as a puppy underneath the St. Louis Arch. It takes 90 days for water from the lake to reach the Gulf of Mexico. I released a tuft of her fur into the stream and then met her in New Orleans on a cruise 90 days later.

World’s Largest Loon

Heading southwest from Lake Itasca, toward Highway 10, I encountered many roads closed for construction and ended up going well out of my way, winding around the many lakes in the region. While this added an hour or two to my drive, I was delighted to find myself in Vergas with the World’s Largest Loon, another hotly contested title.

The Vergas Loon stands 20 feet tall, looking out over Long Lake. It was built by the local fire department in the early 1960s. Every August, the town hosts “Looney Daze” which seems to be a great time to visit the lake.

After hopping on Highway 10, I made my way to Fargo and onto I-94. I pulled into a Bismarck Candlewood Suites around sunset, one of the few area hotels with availability.

Sully Creek State Park

The next day I drove onward to the town of Medora, setting up camp a few miles to the south in Sully Creek State Park where I got one of the last non-equestrian camp sites. The park has excellent campgrounds and is a great place to stay even if there’s space at Teddy Roosevelt. At $15/night, this would end up being the most expensive lodging on the trip.

My first night in Sully Creek, a storm popped up out of nowhere. One minute it was calm and clear, the next it was 40-50mph winds and torrential rain. If I’d had a normal tent, I might have lost it to the wind, ruining the evening and the lovely double rainbow that followed.

Since I use a QOMOTOP Pop-Up Tent, I was able to break camp and get everything into the car in under two minutes. Then I spent the night sleeping in the car quite comfortably on my Milliard Trifold 6” Memory Foam Mattress, both essential road tripping gear.

Teddy Roosevelt National Park

The park features north and south sections separated by an hour’s drive.

The south section is more developed, with its entrance right next to the town of Medora. There you’ll see Teddy Roosevelt’s cabin, lots of prairie dog towns and wild horses. There’s a long drive that loops around the park. When I was there a large chunk of it was closed, and you could only go about half way.

Medora itself feels like a cross between a small midwestern town and something out of a western. There are lots of nice independent restaurants, and a few tasteful shops.

The northern section is more remote. If you take the hour drive, you will see bison and prairie dogs, fantastic views of the Little Missouri River and interesting geological formations.

This summer wildfires were blazing in Canada and you can really see the effect of all the smoke, which reached Medora my first morning in the parks. I suspect in a better time I would have been treated to starry skies and hundred-mile vistas.

Lodging

The strategy on this leg of the trip was to stay in Hyatts where possible, maximizing Globalist benefits in Chicago and Minneapolis, ending the leg with a couple nights camping around Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

---

This Category 3 Regency on Wacker has an excellent location, but it’s massive, feeling a bit like an airport. In terms of globalist benefits, you get free $90 valet parking and an excellent restaurant style breakfast or buffet. They even have a lounge that serves food and drinks in the evening, overlooking the Chicago Skyline.

If you drive into the heart of Chicago, be careful and avoid rush hour. Chicago traffic is frightful, the roads around the hotel can be a little confusing and your phone is likely to lose location while navigating. Be sure to familiarize yourself with how to get to the hotel before driving in.

---

This category 2 Hyatt Regency is another good deal and a very convenient location to stop for a road trip. It’s a short walk to the Mall of America and a 5-minute drive to nearby parks. They have a modest lounge and I believe there was an on-premise restaurant.

Unfortunately, now was roughly the part of the journey when I entered the Great Hyatt Desert, a region of the country where, driving north and west of Minneapolis, you won’t find another Hyatt in the US until you get near Seattle 1600 miles later.

---

With hotel availability a scarce commodity, I took the last non-premium room available in the Lake Bemidji Hampton for 44,800 points. It was a rather unusual room, with a total of four beds, two queens and a bunk bed. Curiously, smaller rooms across the hall, with a lake view, were listed at roughly twice the price.

This was pricey by my road trip standards, but it was a very nice Hampton with a great location on the lake. It felt a little resort-like. The breakfast and dining area were also top-notch, as far as Hamptons go.

---

The Candlewood in Bismarck was really just a convenient place to stop. It was nice, convenient and clean. I remember they had a library of books and possibly dvds for guest to borrow. I had hoped to press further west to Dickinson but all the hotels there were sold out and the delays in Minnesota made this a nice stopping point anyway.

---

The campgrounds at Teddy Roosevelt National Park were all sold out and the large private campground on the edge of Medora looked like a cross between an RV park and an internment camp.

The Sully Creek Campgrounds were just about perfect, with large, well-spaced, private camp sites and a separate area for equestrian campers. Driving into the park, there was an obvious ranger checkin station, which was manned very late into the night.

Cost Summary

Overall, it was a great start to the journey. I was able to keep costs very low, despite a few city stays and limited availability.

• $150 in gas
• 4 Hyatt nights @ 40k
• 1 Hilton night @ 44.8k
• 1 IHG night @ 22k
• 2 nights camping @ $30

Continue on the adventure:

• Part 1: The North Road
• Part 2: The Western Expanse
• Part 3: Route 66